October Was Second Warmest

By Randolh E. Scmid Copyright 1998 Associated Press November 13, 1998

Just a day after the United States signed the global warming treaty, things seemed to be looking better.

With an average worldwide temperature of 58.14 degrees Fahrenheit, last month fell short of the all-time heat record for October.

It was the first month this year that did not set a record for warmth, according to data collected by the government's National Climatic Data Center.

October was already over when the climate treaty was signed, of course, and no one is contending that one month constitutes a trend.

But instead of being the hottest, it was the second warmest October on record, worldwide, trailing October of 1997 when the planet's average temperature was 58.15 degrees.

The string of hot months has increased some environmentalists' concern that human activities are adding chemicals to the atmosphere that could cause rising temperatures and changes in climate.

Governmental officials have been discussing that problem at a conference in Buenos Aires this week. On Thursday, the Clinton Administration took that occasion to announce its signing of the climate agreement reached previously.

The treaty won't be submitted for Senate confirmation right away, however, as it faces serious political opposition there.

October's 58.14 degree average was 1.04 degrees higher than the October average recorded between 1880 and 1997, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported. The global land surface temperature was 1.74 degrees F above the long-term mean, while the global sea surface temperature for the same time was 0.74 degrees F above the long-term mean.

El Nino, the periodic warming of large areas in the Pacific Ocean, boosted the 1997 readings, but that phenomenon has now cooled, lowering ocean temperatures.

Still, with the earlier series of record-setting months, the climate center said that January through October this year was the warmest such period on record, averaging 58.64 degrees. This is 1.24 degrees F above the 1880-1997 mean of 57.4 degrees F and exceeds the previous record for this period set in 1997 by 0.36 degrees F.

In the United States, however, October was the 32nd warmest such month since 1895. The October average in this country was 55.5 degrees, above the long-term average of 54.4 but well below the record 59.8 set in October, 1963.

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